My Day at the Canadian Grand Prix

June 14, 2010 | Article Posted By - James, Montreal, Canada

It is interesting that prior to spending a year studying in Canada, I was not conscious of the cities of Canada featuring in issues of global scale and importance, not in the same way as say Hong Kong, New York or London.

It is interesting that prior to spending a year studying in Canada, I was not conscious of the cities of Canada featuring in issues of global scale and importance, not in the same way as say Hong Kong, New York or London.

Perhaps, because I live in London and have visited New York I always sub-consciously name check any reference to such, and Hong Kong is top of my must see cities so I am always interested. However, my year of living in Montreal has certainly changed my perception of Canada. Canada is much on the radar and is a player in the International scene; in just a 3 week period, Canada will have been home to both the Formula 1 racing, (in my adopted home Montreal) and the latest of the G8 series of discussions in Toronto.

Montreal is a relatively small city of about 1.7 M people, and is a gem, home to some world class educational institutes, such as McGill my alma mater, and swathes of fabulous restaurants and museums.  I spouse the tourist guides are correct when the say; 'Montreal boasts a wonderful blend of European culture mixed with North American convenience of living'.

Montreal is incredible, and it is not just skin-deep, the city and its inhabitants have a real spirit, they support all that is local with a real passion. For those  who follow sport even casually cannot have missed from the recent Winter Olympics (Vancouver), that Hockey in Canada borders on a religion, and this year the Montreal hockey team (the Habs) made it farther than expected in the Stanley cup, and the town certainly celebrated. The excitement and enthusiasm for sport, coupled with the glamour and prestige associated with F1 made attendance to this weekend's race mandatory for all self respecting Montrealers.



As I crossed the bridge from downtown by foot, (or if I had got off the metro at Jean Drapeau station), I was confronted by two  great views; in front lies the Montreal biosphere and the huge grandstands, whilst behind lies river Saint Laurent and the Montreal skyline. A spectacular mix of old and new architecture intertwined that creates a timeless feel to the Montreal.

I was delighted to find that my tickets were for grandstand 24, directly overlooking the hairpin, cars decelerating down 5 gears in 200 metres of road, to turn a sharp corner at over 100km/hour (Canada's maximum speed limit), before up-shifting another 4 gears to race to the next corner, obscene.

A British 1, 2 for Hamilton and Button was a fantastic result for all us Brits watching. Webber, who if had used a different pit strategy would be going home with more points, but Alonso was the drive of the day, the guy is fearless.

I had watched F1 many times on the television, which whilst enjoyable, in hindsight creates a very false impression. Not until I are there could I experience the true power of the F1 experience, the noise is exhilarating but what hit me the most was the ultimate reliance of man and machine, both components have to work in unison, complete symbiosis. Much like a camera adds 10 pounds it has the effect of slowing the cars by 60%, at least! Believe me, you have to see it to believe it.

The atmosphere was great and I was excited throughout the three days, I wanted the race to go for longer and all the crowd stayed until the end. After about two minutes, I was completely hooked; and am saving to go to another race. I love the idea of Korea, amazing to visit a new country and to be at an inaugural GP. I can't wait!

Tags : Canada | F1 Montreal

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